Saucer or disk-type flying toys are well known. For example, one known type of flying toy marketed under the brand name "Frisbee" has a disk of plastic material with a rim portion at its periphery and a central dome or flat portion molded integrally with the rim, as described in Headrick, U.S. Pat. No. 3,359,678, and Gillespie, Sr., U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,122. Another known type of flying toy marketed under the brandname "Aerobie" has a planar ring of plastic material. Normally, these types of toys are thrown generally horizontally with a spinning motion and have a drifting or somewhat floating flight path. The path of the flight is particularly affected by the manner in which the disk is oriented when thrown, and the direction of the prevailing wind or air currents. Although these types of disks can be thrown in a manner to cause them to curve substantially during flight, it is not always possible to have the disks return to the original location of the thrower.
However, flying disk-type toys have been developed which are tethered so that the toy returns to, and even passes by repeatedly, the thrower during flight. For example, Liotta, U.S. Pat. No. 3,673,732, discloses an aerial toy having a ring-like body and an elastic tether connected to the upper surface of the body at a point generally on the central axis and somewhat at or below the general plane of rotation of the toy. The free end of the tether is held in one hand, and the toy is thrown in the standard manner wherein the wrist is snapped to impart spin to the body of the toy. The toy is launched in a generally horizontal direction and travels the length of the elastic tether until the tether becomes taught. The disk is then returned under the influence of the tether in a direction generally toward the thrower. If sufficient spin is imparted to the body of the toy, the toy can make several passes away from and back to the thrower while maintaining a generally stable, horizontal flight.
A similar type of flying toy is shown in Seymour, U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,297, which discloses a disk-shaped toy which is rotatably attached to one end of a monofilament or nylon string. The Seymour toy differs from the Liotta toy in that a loop of string extends through a center sleeve in the axis of the to, which is then connected by a swivel to a main string length to prevent twisting when winding or unwinding the main string length.
Although the above-described flying toys provide a certain amount of entertainment and amusement, they are not without drawbacks. For example, the disk-shaped toy of Seymour is relatively heavy as compared to the ring-shaped toy of Liotta, and can therefore have a relatively shorter flight path. On the other hand, even though the Liotta flying toy has a ring-like shape, the elastic tether on the Liotta toy can add weight to the toy during flight and can thereby also shorten or even destabilize the flight path.
Additionally, there can be issues associated with storing these types of flying toys such that the tether does not become tangled or knotted, or that the toy does not become warped or bent from heat, sunlight, etc. A warped disk-type or ring-type toy can become destabilized during flight and therefore have a shorter flight path.
Accordingly, there is a constant demand in the industry for improved flying toys, and more particularly, for improved tethered, ring-shaped, flying toys which have aerodynamic qualities for long flights, have designs which allow the thrower to become proficient with the toy in a brief period of time, and which can be stored so as to prevent warpage or bending of the toy.